Metal-felly wheel



Dec. 1, 1925. I

. l. D. WALTER METAL FELLY WHEEL Filed Dec. 22. 1923 Wily/114,4

Patented Dec. 1, 1925.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

IRA D. WALTER, OF HARRISBURG, ARKANSAS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-FOURTH TO JOSIAH BRINKERHOFF AND ONE-FOURTH TO CHARLES R. FRENCH, BOTH OF HARRISBURG,

ARKANSAS.

METAL-FELLY WHEEL.

Application filed December 22, 1923. Serial No. 682,273.

T 0 all 1071 am it may concern:

Be it known that I, IRA D. WALTER, a cit-izen of the United States, residing at Harrisburg, in the county of Poinsett and State of Arkansas, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Metal-Folly Wheels, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This case is a continuation in part of my application for patent for metal felly wheels, filed September 27, 1922, Serial No. 590,924.

This invention relates to that class of wheels in which a metal felly or rim replaces the ordinary wooden felly.

In wheels of the usual construction having either metal or wooden fellies, a chief source of weakness lies in the tenons formed on the outer ends of the spokes to engage the felly. Of necessity the spokes must be cut down to a small cross-section in the tenon in order to afford a sufficient shoulder on the end of the spokes to support the radial stresses of the wheel when under load. The results are that the action of the varying heat and cold and wet and dry conditions and the expansion and contraction incident thereto, have a tendency to loosen the spokes in their engagement with the felly, which immediately sets up wear upon the tenons and ultimately produces a shackly wheel. In this weakened condition the wheel is liable to collapse at any time under severe side-thrust, in which case, with wheels of metal felly construction,

7 the portion which gives way is invariably the tenons on the ends of the spokes. In wheels of wood felly construction the felly sometimes gives way by splitting lengthwise and spreading laterally through the holes which engage with the spoke-tenons. To insure against this possible splitting of the folly necessitates making it heavier in cross section, which is not desirable, or reducing the size of the holes for receiving the spoke tenons, which is impractical on account of the necessity of preserving the maximum of strength in these parts.

In the present invention a steel felly having the maximum of strength and wear resisting qualities is combined with wood spokes in a wheel construction possessing all of the inbuilt compression and tension necessary to provide a substantial and resilient wheel, with the r s Of only simple and well.-

known, methods of assembling the parts which compose the completed wheel aside from my improvements.

The invention consists of a metal felly or run constructed and arranged to receive any desired style of tire, whether solid, cushioned or pneumatic, the spokes fitting flush against the inside surface of the felly or rim, that is to say, being without tenons or otherwise reduced ends to enter the felly or rim, and these spokes and the felly being connected by fasteners driven into the ends of the spokes from the outside of the felly, as I will proceed now to explain and finally claim.

In the accompanying drawings illustrating the invention, in the several figures of which like parts are similarly designated, Figure 1 is an elevation of a conventional form of a portion of a wooden spoke automobile wheel, having the metal felly and the felly and spoke connection of this invention, the latter being shown in partial section. Fig. 2 is a top plan view of a portion of the felly and one of the fasteners, on a larger scale. Fig. 3 is a sectional elevation, taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4. is a view similar to Fig. 2,

but showing a modification including means for positively connecting the spoke fastener with the felly. Fig. 5 is a sectional elevation, taken on line 55 of Fig. 4. Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 5 but showing a different form of means for positively connecting the spoke fastener with the felly. Fig. 7 is a view similar to Figs. 3, 5 and 6 but showing a modification. Fig. 8 shows, on a smaller scale, a further modification in which a rim is mounted' direotly on the spokes.

The hub 1 and spokes 2 may be of any approved construction and assembled in any approved way. The outer ends of the spokes are neither provided with tenons nor reduced to enter or engage the felly, but they are cut off square so as to fit flush against the inner surface of the felly, (see spokes'A and .B of Fig. 1).

The felly 3 is of metal, shrunk upon or otherwise fitted to the spokes. This felly may be of any cross'sectional form to suit the tire appliances to be used, that shown in the drawings having lateral flanges 4 and 5 adapted to receive a demountable rim for a pneumatic tire.

The felly and the spokes are connected by means of spoke fasteners 6, which are driven into the tenonless ends of the spokes through holes 7 in the felly. These fasteners may be of a variety of forms so long as they have a part which may be passed from the outside through a hole in the felly into engagement with the spoke and whether the spoke be previously prepared to receive itor not. In the preferred form each fastener comprises a tubular dowel having a cutting edge 8 adapted to be driven into the end of the spoke through a hole 7 in the felly in which it enters with a drive fit. Obviously the dowel will be driven into the spoke'to such an extent that its outer end is substantially fiush with the outer surface of the felly,

thereby providing a projection from the spoke of a length substantially equal to the thickness of the material of the felly. This engagement between the ends of the dowels or. spoke fasteners 6 and the felly has been found to provide an effective, rigid and permanent connection between the spokes and felly. Inasmuch as by driving the fasteners in so that their. outer ends lie substantially flush with the outer surface of the felly a smooth outer surface is provided. This preferred form of the invention lends itself readily to a wheel construction in which a clincher rim 3, Fig. 8, may be mounted directly, upon and attached to the spokes, for the reasonthat there will be no projections to contact with and cause wear of the inner tube of apneumatic tire. When the dowels or fasteners are tubular, as in the preferred form of-the invention, a slight depression is formed within each fastener between its outer end'and the-end of the spoke when the fasteners are driven in, which depression is equal in dimensions to the hole 7 minus the cross-sectional thickness of the fastener, and when used with aclincher or'other rim-attached directly to the spokes, this depression may be filled, as shown at 7' in Fig. 8, so as to provide a uniform surface, in any suitable manner. I propose to use for this purpose the discs produced by punching the holes 7 and re-punching these discs to a reduced diameter to provide a drive fit in the ends of the fasteners.

Although I have found that it is not essential, it may be found expedient to so form the spokefasteners as -to provide for their positiveconnection "with the felly, and this connection inay'be made in a variety of ways. as shown, for example, in Figs. 4 to 7 inclusive. 1 1 In Figs. 4 and-5 I have shown the spok fastener ashaving apart 9 adapted to be passed from the outside through a hole 7 in the felly intoengagement with the spoke and having the cutting edge Sand the eXtensi'ons-lO overlying thefelly on the outside;

and secured to the felly in any suit-able way,

as byrivets-li, sand 5, or-b'y-haying thereininto a bore 15 in the tenonless end of the spoke. Also as shown in Fig.7 the holes 16 in the felly may be countersunk or tapered and the ends of the fastener upset within these holes. I

In the preferred construction, the fastener at its cutting edge 8..has a cylindrical exterior and a tapered interior, so that when it is driven into the end of the spoke there will be no tendency to split the spoke, but there will be a tendency to compress the material of the spoke within the tube and thereby solidify and consequently strengthen the spoke atits union with the felly.

By the construction described, a wooden spoke wheel may be readily and accurately I ment either'circumferentially or transversely with relation to the felly, under normal conditio'ns, and the liability of the spokes and felly wearing loose is greatly reduced, if not altogether eliminated.

Variations in details-ofconstruction are permissible within the principleof the invention and the claims following, and it is to be understood that the claims are intended to include" and cover the use of the invention whether afelly ora rim be used in contact with the spokes.

What I claim is 1. In a spoked wheel, a metal felly or ri-n'i provided with perforations equal in number to'the number ofspokes, spokes having tenonless ends butted flush against the inner surface of the felly orrim, and tubular spoke fasteners having-cutting edges and extendingthrough' the"perforations in the felly or rim and driven into and embedded in the ends of the spokes;

2. In a wheel, wooden spokes, and a metal felly provided with perforations equal in number to thenu mber of spokes, said wooden spokes having :tenonlessends butted flush againstitheinner surface ofthe'felly, and fasteners having portions passed through the folly from the outside thereof and into the tenonless-endsof the spokes and also having extensions overlying the felly and clinched thereto.

3. In a wheel, Wooden tenonless spokes and a metal felly fitted flush to the tenonless ends of the spokes and having as many per forations as there arespokes, and fasteners having tubular portions extending through the perforations in the felly and provided with cutting edges driven into the tenonless ends of the spokes.

ei. In a spoked wheel, a metal felly provided with perforations equal in number to the number of spokes, spokes having tenonless ends butted flush against the inner surface of the felly, and spoke fasteners having tubular portions provided with cutting edges, said tubular portions extending through the perforations in the felly and being driven into and embedded in the ends of the spokes, said spoke fasteners having extensions overlying the felly on the outside and secured to the folly.

5. In a spoked wheel, a metal felly provided with perforations equal 111 number to the number of spokes, spokes having tenonless ends butted flush against the inner surface of the telly, and spoke fasteners having tubular portions cylindrical on the outside and tapered on the inside to form cutting edges and extending through the perforations in the telly and driven into and e1nbedded in the ends of the spokes.

6. In a spoked wheel, a metal felly provided with perforations equal in number to the number of spokes, spokes having tenonless ends batted flush against the inner sur face of the felly, and spoke fasteners having tubular portions having cutting edges, said tubular portions extending through the perforations in the felly and being driven into and embedded in the ends of the spokes, and means to rigidly fix the fasteners on the felly.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 18 day of December A. D. 1923.

IRA D. WALTER. 

